Mississauga to rotate mayors while Bonnie Crombie takes leave of absence

Mississauga will have a rotating set of acting mayors while Bonnie Crombie takes a leave of absence to focus on her provincial Liberal leadership bid.

The Mayor’s office said that Crombie’s last day will be on Oct. 6.

“In her absence, the City will operationalize the Acting Mayor By-law, which will see Councillors rotate as Acting Head of Council on two month rotations to fulfill mayoral duties such as chairing Council and Committee meetings and attending official city events on behalf of the Mayor.”

Officials said that Crombie will spend the next few weeks working with the city manager to review key issues such as the 2024 budget.

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Crombie has been mayor of Mississauga since 2014 and was re-elected for a third term in October 2022 with more than 77 per cent of the vote. In mid-June, she registered to run for leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.

At the time, she hinted that she may have to take a leave of absence from her position as mayor.

The Progressive Conservative Party released a statement after she confirmed she would be taking a leave Wednesday, saying that it “must be nice to take a prolonged vacation from your job.”

“It’s clear Bonnie only sees being mayor as a backup plan rather than what it is: a full-time job. She’s hedging her bets on becoming leader of the Ontario Liberals when she should be serving the people of Mississauga.”

The Liberals are expected to vote for a new leader on Nov. 25 and 26, and are scheduled to release the results on Dec. 2.

Debates for the leadership race are expected to start this month.